Thursday Games

[AppinVA]

A dozen, or so, students in a community of 20,000? In January those classes may be cancelled due to weather, so I am not buying that it can't be done.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Sometimes in life there are curve balls, obstacles, and things just don't go your way. Often times successful people find a way to get the job done.

If I'm the professor we decide as a class what works for the group to get the job done and done correctly. This really isn't very hard.

That is a nice platitude you typed and if directed to the folks attending the game with the same sentiment it would be spot on.

This also assumes there are options for profs and the students. If the school were to say no classes after 3 there really is no options to decide. For some classes that may be OK. But for other classes the class needs to meet face-to-face and in person and anything short of that is lessening the academic experience. And once that is done for athletics we ARE putting athletics before academics, and no word-play can change that fact.

Classes need to meet. If YC members can't find a parking spot until 5 then arrive a bit later and cut into the tailgating. As long as classes can meet and those classes that meet after 5 can meet and profs and students with parking passes can find something reasonable then all is fine with me. The profs may not get their usual spot but something reasonable.

Everyone is going to have to bend a bit on this, but it needs to fall on us that are there for the game more than those there for academics.

[Goapps15]

Teachers cancel classes fairly often for a plethora of reasons. Many of those would infuriate parents more than cancelling two Thursday afternoons worth of classes. That is what makes this very annoying as a recent alum. A handful of classes are now hybrid (half & half) or completely online now. Teachers could easily give assignments online and have them due the following class period. I do think it will negatively affect attendance from students, especially the ones who live off-campus.

Once again I agree academics are important but it is not any different than a teacher walking in on a random day and saying go home. Go Apps!

[Saint3333]

We aren't going to stop people from coming to Boone between 3-6, you adjust the variables that are in your control. Communicating the current message to fans is problematic at best. I feel sorry for those trying to attend class from off campus and the fans that won't learn of this issue until they arrive in Boone.

At the end of the day I'll be in my spot at 3, many students will skip their classes and get the same grade and education either way.

Oh and we'll beat the hell out of GS.

[Yosef]

I have a feeling most professors will offer an option B that allow students to do some of the work ahead of time and miss that class.

[SayYesToTheRock]

I have a feeling most professors will offer an option B that allow students to do some of the work ahead of time and miss that class.

From conversations I've had with several students, this seems to be the case. Online class portions and assignments which can be completed on the student's own schedule seem to be the most popular option so far.

[Gonzo]

To me, "putting academics first" pertains to our student athletes maintaining high classroom standards. It's a separate consideration.

In the Spring semester these kids will miss a week of classes or more, and without the national media putting us on their stage.

This is the first time Everts has disappointed me, and boy has she. Perhaps in keeping with her education background she's pandering to the out-of-touch academics. We need the students there with bells on and she's making it almost impossible for them to do so.

She doesn't get it. What Would Peacock Do?

[Yosef]

Isn't spring semester longer though to account for the missed week?

[huskie3]

Fall break is Oct. 15 - 16, use those days if some one really wants to go to class instead of the game. I know these is as ridiculous as other ideas. Just leave it up to the prof and class to decide how to handle this.

[MountainMan]

To me, "putting academics first" pertains to our student athletes maintaining high classroom standards. It's a separate consideration.

In the Spring semester these kids will miss a week of classes or more, and without the national media putting us on their stage.

This is the first time Everts has disappointed me, and boy has she. Perhaps in keeping with her education background she's pandering to the out-of-touch academics. We need the students there with bells on and she's making it almost impossible for them to do so.

She doesn't get it. What Would Peacock Do?

She gets it. Chancellor Everts sure does not need to worry about What Would Peacock Do -- that would be a problem, not a solution. The proposed plan is a very reasonable compromise that takes into account both academics and athletics. Yes it's messy, but it is much better than cancelling classes or not having any time at all for tailgating.

It's really sad to me to hear all the calls for cancelling classes like missing two classes is "nothing" to be concerned about. It's between 5 and 10% of all the class time in a semester for Tu/Th classes.

[Goapps15]

MountainMan,

I agree with you that Everts is in a no-win situation. She either sets a precedent that athletics trump academics or pisses off alums coming to the game. The first causes her more problems internally.

Most students will not be attending class those days after 12 anyways. They will begin tailgating and pregame festivities around that time. Most professors I had did not have or enforce an attendance policy. Which makes this whole debate moot.

Only issue is for alums who want to tailgate and students coming from off campus. Everyone in this thread has made excellent points. Biggest issue I have with Everts is over old WHS parking.

[App1990]

It's a university people. The mission is creating and disseminating knowledge, which requires faculty working in their offices, students and faculty attending class, people attending meetings, etc. It’s a state entity that should fulfill the mission that taxpayers fund. You wouldn’t know it by some of these comments, but football is EXTRAcurricular entertainment that mainly serves alumni and fans. The group that should deal with any inconvenience is the alumni and fans. For us to suggest that faculty and students should stop working and learning just to accommodate drinking and grilling is beyond ridiculous. Sure other universities do it, but we should be proud that we did not.

And its more than canceling classes. It is shutting down the university. So suggesting that "canceling two Thursday classes" isn’t a big deal shows a severe lack of understanding. It is a big deal for many reasons. It disproportionately affects some students and some classes. It hurts Tues/Thur classes and Thur labs, and It seriously hampers classes that only meet one day (Thur) a week In some cases, it would mean losing about 15% of the total class time. And given that Professors have already finalized their course plans/schedules, its asking them to rework their entire class so we can tailgate. But as I said, it is more than classes. It would essentially kick everyone off campus. There are meetings, workshops, research, seminars and visitors from other campuses, etc. that take place, many planned well in advance. Reschedule that visiting speaker from Cornell so fans can tailgate? Employees take extra vacation on taxpayers dime so fans can hang out in parking lots? Crazy talk that sends a bad message.

It’s a workplace that has serious work to do. Students pay and borrow a lot of money for this serious activity. Taxpayers support it because of this serious activity. It is not a shell to support a game day party for alumni. Athletics should not displace academics. The fact that so many of us complain about the university's priorities instead of support them underlies the problem with education at all levels in this country. We'd rather tailgate than have faculty and students at work. Hey we knew this was part of the deal in moving to FBS, so we the fans should have expected the inconvenience. We should deal with it. We should not ask an entire university to accommodate our need to hang out in a parking lot before a game. That is a very skewed set of priorities. Thankfully we have leaders that have better priorities. They should be commended for maintaining academic integrity while working to find a decent compromise.

[PhillyApp1]

Get over yourself....there are options to cancel a few classes and have students make up the class . Making up classes is done often when it's convenient for a professor... This is nothing more than an academic power play that is foolish.

[AppDawg]

My concern isn't so much tailgating and having extra time to drink and grill - its the logistics of having thousands of fans coming to Boone from off the mountain (including currently approx 2,000 fans from GaSo) and hundreds/thousands of faculty and staff leaving all at the same time. Parking is at a premium already. Luckily, I have a reserved spot that SNE has reserved for the day. However, the plan doesn't consider the traffic congestion of folks leaving campus between 3 and 5, and coming on to campus for the game and/or night classes. It also doesn't consider fans who have paid off campus parking spots for gamedays - many of these lots double for student parking as well. I am afraid it is going to be a major logjam. With a 7:30 kick I think it is a very real possibility it will be a late arriving crowd. I just hope everyone is able to get in before the end of the 1st quarter.

Again, we'll see how it plays out. I sure hope I am wrong. I am just not very optimistic on this one.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

It's a university people.

Were I not busy and getting ready to go to school to plan some lessons I would take the time to create another account just so I could upvote you again. Well said.

[AppDawg]

Isn't spring semester longer though to account for the missed week?

Looking at the school calendar, there are 31 scheduled tues/thurs classes each. The exact same. One could make the arguement with the weather, the spring semester will meet far less due to cancellations and delays.

[Goapps15]

Isn't spring semester longer though to account for the missed week?

Looking at the school calendar, there are 31 scheduled tues/thurs classes each. The exact same. One could make the arguement with the weather, the spring semester will meet far less due to cancellations and delays.

Last spring I believe they canceled Tuesday and Thursday (Morning) classes 4 times and there were a few other times my professors canceled due to weather.

There are several ways you could cancel those classes and not effect instruction. Labs would be the biggest hurdle, the rest simple. Have professors after 2 hold a class on Friday to cover material or give work via AsuLearn. They do it a lot anyways. Plus I can hear it now when the anti-athletics professors get stuck in traffic because of staying later.

[AppDawg]

As a follow-up comparing fall and spring semesters, here is a historical list of all closings and class cancellations at App. Many 8 and 9AM class cancellations. This proves it isn't the Appalachain many of us are use to where classes were NEVER cancelled or delayed. Rather cancellations in the spring semester appear to be the norm now - even in anticipation of a storm instead of after it occurs. Pay particular attention to the most recent years 2013-2015. Eye popping.

I'll also add, in addition to all of the weather related closings last spring, classes were also cancelled until 1pm on the day SNE was installed.

Needless to say, It remains my opinion that classes after 3 for a couple days in the fall semester cancelled pales in comparison to the amount of "distruption" experienced each spring semester.

http://wataugaroads.com/appalachian-sta ... s-history/

[TheMoody1]

Isn't spring semester longer though to account for the missed week?

Looking at the school calendar, there are 31 scheduled tues/thurs classes each. The exact same. One could make the arguement with the weather, the spring semester will meet far less due to cancellations and delays.

Those cancellations are ok because the academics can blame climate change.

[QueencityApp]

I know this is our first go round with a Thursday Night game but i feel certain our administration reached out to other institutions to see how they handled Thursday night games in the past.

How did GaSou do it last year, what about ECU? Hell Clemson has been on Thursday night prime time plenty of times and they deal with 3x the volume we are debating about.

I'm sure they're will be a few bumps this first time but we are going to have to deal with mid week games in the future so getting a solid plan worked out over time will be necessary.